What was initially deliberate as a hearth chat between Ashok Jhunjhunwala of IIT Madras and The Hindu Group CEO L.V. Navaneeth, at the two-day Deep Tech Summit 2026 organised by The Hindu Group with the SRM Institute of Science and Technology (SRMIST), turned out to be a motivational session full of power and optimism, inspiring technocrats, entrepreneurs, academicians and startups.
The session, titled “From Lab to Nation: How India Can Build A Global Deep Tech Ecosystem”, lined a large arc of time—from Professor Jhunjhunwala’s return to India in the Eighties, the key rules behind the success of IIT Madras Research Park, do’s and don’ts of entrepreneurship, the want for options for on a regular basis issues, two varieties of mentorship for any startup, to many issues in between.
When requested what initially satisfied him that India wanted a totally totally different mannequin, Professor Jhunjhunwala recalled his return from the U.S. in 1981 and the absence of interplay between {industry} and academia. Along with a bunch of college students, he began constructing issues for the {industry}. “That was the beginning!” he stated.
And was the {industry} forthcoming? “I also realise that you have to actually reach the top person in the industry. They have the vision to take risks. If you go from below, you will not be able to do that,” he stated.
Curious about the IIT Madras Research Park (IITMRP) mannequin, which is usually cited as one of the most profitable industry-academy collaboration fashions in the nation, Mr. Navaneeth sought to perceive the key rules behind its design and requested what lesson ought to different universities be taught from it.
“First of all, we looked at IIT Madras Research Park as a startup. Yes, you can take seed money from somewhere, but beyond that, a strong business model must drive that. So, beyond the seed money, you are not going to get any grant. Beyond the seed money, you have to raise money by either venture capital or loans. For that, your business plan has to be very strong and the banks have to be convinced,” stated Professor Jhunjhunwala.
The different vital factor for such an institute, he added, was: “We cannot have interference either from the government or even from the institute. Because the government does things in its own manner. If you are dependent on government funding, they will, of course, interfere.” Even the institute has its personal priorities, he stated and emphasised: “If you allow them to interfere, they will never allow you to build.”
Professor Jhunjhunwala recalled how a newspaper article printed his quote, which helped him get his first cheque of ₹1 lakh from the chairman of WS Industries. Hard work of one 12 months led to constructing a prototype, he stated, and additional recalled how the chairman used the prototype to carry down the value and emphasised that it was the form of acumen that enterprise leaders have.
On sustaining optimism, Professor Jhunjhunwala informed Mr. Navaneeth, “I probably will stop living if I am not an optimist. A lot of things go wrong. I’m very unhappy with many things. At night, I feel horrible. Sometimes, I don’t sleep. The next morning, however, you have to get back to your work and get going. And you cannot work hard without optimism.”
Regarding real-world challenges, the professor cited how heavy rains affected vehicular visitors on his method to the summit. “And we haven’t found a solution. Who is going to solve this problem? It is we who have to solve it. So, today I am building a consortium of scientists around the country, along with 8-10 startups. So, we will find a technology solution. That’s a kind of thing that we need to do. I am not afraid of failing.”
On entrepreneurship, Professor Jhunjhunwala stated he often asks startup fanatics for his or her background. “Basically, I ask them two things. First, I start getting to know them and their family and try to understand their economic situation and family obligations. I want to understand whether they are in a position to take risks. Because entrepreneurship is about risk. For at least two to three years you will earn zero.”
The second factor he asks them is about their failures. “Tell me about your failures, and what did you do after failures? How do you get up, overcome the failure and restart? Because entrepreneurship is also about failures, getting up and restarting. I have not seen any startup succeeding without two, three, four, five failures.”
He informed Mr. Navaneeth, “There are two kinds of mentorship that any startup needs. One is a technology mentorship, where they have a technical problem to solve, and the people in technology can help them mentor that. The second is a business mentorship. Anybody who has run a business, essentially, who has gone through the difficulties of handling cash flows.”
On mentorship, Professor Jhunjhunwala stated: “Your experience, your listening to them, will help. Be very clear. You are not going to tell them what to do. In fact, it will be foolish if they listen to you and do exactly what you say. You are a mentor. You will advise. It is up to them to decide whether to take the advice or not. The other important thing about is that the mentor doesn’t feel offended if their advice is not taken.”
For the youngsters, he had this to share: “Take up the challenge. Work hard. This is what you have been trained for. You can do wonders. If you believe, take the impossible things and do that. That’s what I will advise. Nothing more than that. And be truthful to yourself. You will enjoy life. Money will come. Don’t run after money. That’s what I will do!”
Published – April 06, 2026 10:56 pm IST